


The druid from Nashville Tennessee

by Quillobsidian



Category: Hermitcraft, Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24804610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillobsidian/pseuds/Quillobsidian
Summary: A fantasy-themed Joe fic for the hermitkraft gift exchange! This is based around a fantasy twist on the mayoral race so enjoy!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	The druid from Nashville Tennessee

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift for calmshejaguar! enjoy your Fantasy Joe fic!
> 
> warning there is a little angst here, if there's anything else that needs a warning let me know in the comments!

The walk down to the town hall was a long one, but the sun was shining so Joe didn’t mind. Unlike his fellow hermits, Joe had never invested in a horse or a teleportation spell in some cases. So travel for him was slow.

This was the third time this month Joe had to report in for a town meeting. And he couldn’t skip the meeting to go looking for herbs like he did last time, as he was supposed to be speaking.

The meetings were necessary of course. As it was time for the town to choose a new representative to stand in the high court of magic. The court was a group made of gifted magicians from towns all over the overworld. They discussed important political matters like “what should be done about the dragon that's been flying around lately”. And you know, other important stuff.

Xisuma used to be the representative. But after years of service, he decided to retire so he could spend time in his garden caring for bees.

Joe had entered the race immediately after he found out the position was open. The reason for this being that in the entire history of the high court, a druid had never acted as a representative. Joe wanted to change that.

But now was not a time to think about politics. Instead, Joe decided to focus on how beautiful Hermit-Ville was. With its thick lush forests and rocky mountains, Joe was glad to live somewhere so perfect.

The wooden doors to the town hall creaked as Joe pushed them open. The inside had been laid out with rows of chairs and a small stage at the front. Joe was late. The meeting had already started and B-dubs and Grian were arguing. Even though he was late, Joe still made his case.

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have a moment of your time,” Joe asked, and the hermits turned their heads to listen.

“Thank you, now I know that we have a wolf problem.” He continued.

“They eat our sheep, and they’ve been diggin’ up plants out in the forest." Explained Joe.

"So if yall elect me to be your representative, I promise I will deal with our wolf problem.” Joe finished speaking and looked around the room to see many confused faces.

“Joe, I don’t think a druid is the kind of magician the court will be looking for." Grian remarked. "And dogs? We can handle dogs."

Joe didn't want to argue, so he threw down a campaign poster and left the hall. What Grian had said about his magic hurt, did more people think that way? Did people think druids weren’t worthy?

Joe shook these negative thoughts away. He knew his worth and was proud to call himself the only druid in Hermit-Ville. People always came to him for botanical help, so he would be a great representative.

He walked away from the town hall and up through the narrow market streets, He'd never had a look at the shops before. Joe walked past shops selling potions, herbs, crystals, and other useful magical items. He even walked past a butcher shop.

Wait. Joe turned back around. He heard a scrambling noise coming from the butchers.

He crept towards it and saw a large grey tail sticking out over the counter. Joe froze solid. He knew what that fluffy tail belonged to. A wolf.

It walked out into the street carrying a steak in its jaws looking pleased. When it saw Joe it immediately dropped into a hunter's crouch, snarling at him. Paralyzed with fear, Joe stared in awe. This wolf was bigger than any he had seen before. It was much stronger and faster than he was so turning around and running was not an option. But then again neither was standing still.

Joe decided to use the only trick he had, he held his hand out to the wolf. He’d read in a book that you can tame animals by showing them your hand, but that book was about horses.

Joe looked the wolf in its eyes, and the wolf looked back.

“I mean you no harm friend, you can trust me” Joe made his voice as soft as possible, hoping it would help.

The wolf stepped forward and sniffed Joe's hand curiously, and then gave it a gentle lick.

“Oh thank you for the kisses my friend!” Joe exclaimed as he tried to pet the wolf on the head. Accepting his offer, the wolf began wagging its tail excitedly. It then flopped over onto Joe and knocked him to the floor. Joe chuckled and gave the wolf a good belly rub.

“I think I'm gonna name you Hercules, what do you think?” Joe asked. The wolf barked in response, which Joe took as a yes.

Joe sat with Hercules for a good hour, giving belly rubs and head pats until the wolf was almost asleep. He wondered when his fellow hermits would finish with the meeting. And then realized, he couldn't let them see the mess Hercules made.

“Friend, I want you to go home now ok?” Joe requested, receiving a whine in response.

“Aww don’t cry friend, I’ll miss you too but trust me, you gotta get home.” Joe patted Hercules on the head as reassurance.

Hercules gave Joe a slow blink that said, “goodbye” and ran off towards the forest.

It had been a month since Joe had said goodbye to Hercules, and he still missed him. Maybe Joe could try howling at the moon to speak with him?

The representative race was drawing to a close. All the candidates seemed to have an even amount of support, so it was anybody's game. Joe was packing his bag, ready to leave for another meeting. Herbs, check. Wand, check. Campaign posters, check. He was all set for his walk down.

After about 10 minutes of walking, Joe heard shouts of panic coming from the village. He noticed the sky above it had turned a smokey orange.

His heart sank. Fire!

He broke into a sprint, dropping his bag in the process which he did not attempt to pick up.

The first hermit he saw when he got close to the village was Hypno, who was carrying buckets of water under his arms.

“Hypno! What's happened!?” Joe asked.

“Dragon!” Hypno answered, “Out by the town hall!”

“Got it!” Joe shouted, his chest was hurting but he didn’t care.

“Where are you going!?” Asked Hypno.

Joe’s response was quick, “I’m going to help!”

Joe looked at the town around him as he ran. The forests surrounding the village were burning. And the mountains were blocked out by clouds of smoke. The sight made his heart ache, and tears began to well in his eyes. How could this have happened so fast? How had no one seen this coming?

Joe saw the dragon before he saw the town hall. It had deep orange scales that camouflaged it in its fire, and a mouth drawn back into a snarl showing rows of fangs.

A few hermits stood in front of it, Joe could recognize the silhouettes of Scar, Mumbo, Stress, and False. His fellow candidates stood out against the dragon.

“Joe!” Stress shouted as he reached the group.

“What are you doin’ go where it's safe!”

“No! I'm going to fight with yall!” Joe shouted, receiving concerned glances.

Scar was using his magic to create a force field around the hermits. It was keeping them safe but he looked tired. Mumbo was shooting balls of magic at the dragon, as were Stress and False.

Joe knew what he had to do, it was the only trick he had.

He walked outside the shield, receiving gasps from the hermits but he didn't turn back.

Joe locked eyes with the dragon, its black gaze meeting his.

“Joe!” the others yelled together.

“Are you crazy? You’re gonna get hurt!” False shouted.

Joe didn’t listen. He held his hand out to the dragon.

“Hey their friend, Joe Hills here, I am not gonna hurt you."

Joe held his breath and the world fell silent for a moment.

Suddenly, the dragon sat down, its deep snarl turning into a soft purr. Joe felt the tension break, finally, he could breathe again.

“I...I did it.,” Joe didn’t think it would work. Wolves are one thing but dragons are another.

“N..now” Joe’s voice was shaking. “I want you t..to.. to clean up this mess you made!” The dragon gave a slow blink. With a powerful beat of its wings, it was up in the air and flying towards the forest.

“I’m gonna name him Icarus,” Joe thought to himself.

Joe turned to look at his fellow representative race runners. They all had their mouths wide open with shock.

“Yall will catch flies like that,” Joe joked.

The candidates ran towards him, all buzzing with curiosity and excitement.

“Druids can tame dragons?” Mumbo asked.

“Can you talk to animals?” Scar questioned.

Joe felt a warm glow of admiration, he saw more hermits rushing over to him. They looked half surprised, half ecstatic, and Joe welcomed both responses.

“Three cheers for Joe!” Hypno shouted.

“hip-hip!”

“Hooray!”

“Hip-hip!”

“Hooray!”

“Hip-hip!”

“Hooray!”

On the last “hooray” Xisuma walked over to Joe with a beaming smile on his face.

“Joe you’ve been living here in Hermit-Ville for as long as I have, and that's a long time!” He chuckled.

“And after what you did today, risking your life like that, I can think of no one better to represent us in the high court.” Murmurs of agreement sounded up from all around him. His fellow hermits were looking at him with smiles.

Joe almost started crying. To see his fellow hermits so appreciative of him made his heart melt. He didn't care about the representative role anymore.

“As my first move as a representative, I have decided we will have no representative!” Joe exclaimed.

“We can send whoever wants to go each month.” The hermits around him nodded. It didn’t matter who was the representative, they were all worthy members of the community.

“Now let's get this place cleaned up!” Xisuma said as a Mumbo for mayor sign fell off the town hall behind him. Everyone set off to start working on the cleanup. Things seemed surprisingly calm despite what happened, and that resilience was what inspired Joe the most.

"I'll have to write a poem about this" Joe thought. 


End file.
